I became involved in city politics over a decade ago to stop the over-concentration of drug and alcohol rehab homes in West Newport and expose the corrupt politicians profiting from them, while our community suffered the impacts.

The deeper I dug, the more corruption I found at City Hall.

They hid documents, obfuscated the truth, and allowed our community to become ground-zero for some of the worst drug rehab over-concentration that California has ever seen.

I discovered a former mayor and city councilman were involved. It was disgusting.

In 2014 a group of councilmembers was elected bringing transparency and sunlight to government.

Councilman Scott Peotter is a leader in cleaning the mess up and protecting residents.

Scott and I often disagree on issues and he isn’t always politically correct, but he always fights for us.

He was elected in 2014 on a platform of reduced spending, cutting regulations, and reining in our massive $500 million pension debt and Taj Mahal bond payments.

Scott is not afraid to speak his mind – calling out the excesses and corruption of the past decade.

His political opponents have targeted him for a recall because they want to return to the days of overspending on pet projects like the Taj Mahal, Marina Park, a proposed west side community center on Costa Mesa’s border, and give preferential treatment of those “politically connected” at the expense of the ordinary community member.